Torres Strait Landsat 5 Satellite Composite, 1993-2009

A composite of 8 Landsat 5 satellite scenes processed to create a cloud-free, clear-water image of the Torres Strait region, including parts of Cape York and Papua New Guinea. The final image has a resolution of approximately 30 meters and a positional accuracy better than 50 meters. It was created by the Australian Ocean Data Network using imagery selected from the Landsat 5 archive between 1993 and 2009.

Use Cases

• Monitoring reef health and extent based on clear, true-color marine imagery.
• Analyzing coastal geomorphology and sand bar distribution based on low-tide, clear-water imagery.
• Creating baseline maps for environmental change detection based on a cloud-free composite spanning 1993-2009.
• Studying sediment plumes from river systems like the Fly River based on the clear water correction applied.

Strengths

• Processed from 8 Landsat scenes to achieve a cloud-free, seamless composite.
• Imagery was specifically selected for low tide and clear water conditions to optimize marine visibility.
• Has a spatial resolution of approximately 30 meters and positional accuracy better than 50 meters.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data may reflect temporal bias inherent to the source, as imagery is from 1993-2009 and a newer Sentinel-2 based product is referenced.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for quantitative analysis.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, sourced from NASA Landsat 5 imagery.

Collection Method

Images were selected from the Landsat 5 archive, corrected for sun glint and haze, blended in Photoshop, and mosaicked using gdalwarp.

Time Range

1993 to 2009

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-16 00:08:00.530569; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Torres Strait region, including parts of Cape York (Australia) and Papua New Guinea (Fly River).